North Korea's Birthday........

[sarettah]

http://asia.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPop...storyID=3408521

N.Korea Turns 55, All Eyes on Military Parade
Mon September 08, 2003 08:05 PM ET

By Martin Nesirky
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea celebrated its 55th birthday Tuesday and regional powers were closely watching to see whether Pyongyang would display a new ballistic missile as a gesture of defiance in its nuclear standoff with Washington.

The Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed on September 9, 1948, as the Cold War gripped the peninsula and split it into communist and capitalist camps.

South Korea, Japan and the United States will closely monitor an expected military parade in Pyongyang, the first such display in a decade. Defense analysts expect North Korea to wheel out a new ballistic missile.

JoongAng Ilbo, a leading South Korean newspaper, quoted an unnamed government official as saying the missile would be displayed at a parade at an airbase near the capital Pyongyang. It is not clear when the parade would take place.

"To develop the missile, the North Koreans received assistance from missile scientists from the former Soviet Union," the newspaper quoted the official as saying.

The newspaper said there were nine or 10 of these missiles and five launch sites. It said the missile had a distinctive shape rather like a baby's bottle and was derived from a Soviet-era missile.

On the eve of the anniversary, North Korea's ambassador to Russia said Pyongyang saw no point in more multilateral talks on its nuclear program, and had no option but to strengthen its deterrent, Russian agencies reported.